Lieberman says Israel will never leave the Golan

Foreign minister says he views Golan Heights just as he does TA, Netanya, Holon, “ceding them would be suicidal.”

jpost.com

A day after the Likud approved its merger with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party, the party’s leader declared that “ceding the Golan Heights would be suicidal,” on a Tuesday visit to the area.

Lieberman, looking out towards Quinetra, told reporters that “unfortunately in recent years we have seen a number of attempts to negotiate over the Golan Heights. The Golan is an integral part of Israel, and I think that recent events prove that.”

Lieberman said that al-Qaida, which “sits just a short distance away in Quinetra, would be on [Lake] Kinneret, and the hills and all the kibbutzim and communities would be under the threat by all kinds of the most radical elements in the Muslim world.” The foreign minister stressed that he viewed the Golan as he did Tel Aviv, Netanya, Holon and Bat Yam, and was not willing to even discuss the idea of giving up the region.

Lieberman’s comments came shortly before visiting Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics told The Jerusalem Post that Israel’s “calm attitude” regarding the developments in Syria was constructive. In reference to the Golan issue, he especially praised Israel for “not using any issues that are disputed between the two countries,” and added that the EU appreciated that the state was “not raising nervousness” over the issue.